Local kitchen designer Sandra Brannock, owner of Expert Kitchen Designs in Amissville, Virginia, has been featured in a recent Washington Post special section on Chef Inspired Kitchens.
The majority of today’s homeowners want open kitchen spaces where they can easily socialize, entertain and cook. While no two kitchens are the same, today’s discerning homeowners want high-end appliances that make cooking more convenient with better end results.
“Quality appliances are going to make a difference in the outcome of the food that you’re making,” said Sandra Brannock, founder of Expert Kitchen Designs, a kitchen design firm serving the D.C. metro area.
“And when it comes to pantries, chef-inspired kitchens are changing the game. Unlike the typical food closet found in a standard kitchen, chef-inspired pantries are walk-in spaces that can contain a second set of appliances, such as sinks and cooktops. There, home cooks can do everything from marinate a cut of meat to chop vegetables and cook the first few courses of a meal. Some people even opt to buy their refrigerators and freezers separately, and keep the freezer in the pantry, away from the main kitchen space,” said Brannock.
In addition to high-end appliances and pantries, the physical layouts of chef-inspired kitchens are centered around what is known as the “work triangle,” or the area of the kitchen where the majority of prepping and cooking takes place. The three points of the work triangle, according to Brannock, are the refrigerator, cooking station and prep sink.
“No single leg of the work triangle should be shorter than four feet or longer than nine feet, and you should have no obstruction within that triangle,” she said. For example, “you can’t put the refrigerator on the other side of an island. That’s considered a no-no.”
The majority of today’s homeowners want open kitchen spaces where they can easily socialize, entertain and cook. While no two kitchens are the same, today’s discerning homeowners want high-end appliances that make cooking more convenient with better end results.
“Quality appliances are going to make a difference in the outcome of the food that you’re making,” said Sandra Brannock, founder of Expert Kitchen Designs, a kitchen design firm serving the D.C. metro area.
“And when it comes to pantries, chef-inspired kitchens are changing the game. Unlike the typical food closet found in a standard kitchen, chef-inspired pantries are walk-in spaces that can contain a second set of appliances, such as sinks and cooktops. There, home cooks can do everything from marinate a cut of meat to chop vegetables and cook the first few courses of a meal. Some people even opt to buy their refrigerators and freezers separately, and keep the freezer in the pantry, away from the main kitchen space,” said Brannock.
In addition to high-end appliances and pantries, the physical layouts of chef-inspired kitchens are centered around what is known as the “work triangle,” or the area of the kitchen where the majority of prepping and cooking takes place. The three points of the work triangle, according to Brannock, are the refrigerator, cooking station and prep sink.
“No single leg of the work triangle should be shorter than four feet or longer than nine feet, and you should have no obstruction within that triangle,” she said. For example, “you can’t put the refrigerator on the other side of an island. That’s considered a no-no.”
